Interpretation – Entrepreneur – a fancy name for someone who is self-employed. Possibly in an industry where there is more of an element of risk than say, running a supermarket. We’re always going to need food, right?

So what kinds of industries would have an element of risk?

Broadly, you could say that any business that produced or sold items that are highly discretionary would be one. This being the first kind of spending consumers cut down on when times are tough.

New ideas or products would be tough, because it takes time to build trust and get people to part with their hard earned cash for them.

New technologies can also be tough, particularly with the older generations who have done things a particular way, successfully, for so long, that changing is not only difficult, it’s terrifying. Or worse, they just do not recognise that a different approach is necessary now.

Take internet marketing as an example.

A lot of companies have, for many years, used marketing platforms such as newspapers and the Yellow Pages. There’s nothing wrong with that. It worked, then. But today’s 20 somethings, the ones who have the cash to spend, who will be your customers of the future, don’t buy newspapers and they rarely use the yellow pages. If they can’t find you on the internet, or worse, through their mobile phones, they won’t choose to deal with you. They are the ‘now’ generation. They want everything NOW, and that includes information.

The world has changed dramatically with the massive improvement of technology and communication devices. People don’t walk the streets, browsing shop windows any longer, they browse the internet. When people do go to a shop to buy something, they will park as close to the shop they want to go to as they possibly can, and most of them will know exactly what they want, because they will have done their research online first.

So we know that internet marketing, that used to be the ‘marketing’ way of the future, but that now that future is here, still has an element of risk. Why? Because we are still in the change-over period between the younger generations that insists on it, and the older generations that can’t see why they should change to it.

Ok, so I can consider myself and entrepreneur because although I have a business of the kind that has been around for years, I am choosing to market it online, rather than use traditional methods. And I’ve digressed a tad. So, why do I want to be an entrepreneur?

Not freedom from hard work, hard work goes with the territory. Not freedom from working long hours or late nights, which I do often. But the freedom to choose when, why and how. This is a freedom that not only makes us more productive, but is in itself inspiring, motivational and makes our endeavours more meaningful. It’s a freedom that gives us choice, and we are always more motivated, more productive, when we are doing something that we choose to do.

If I was working for someone else, and was asked to work till well past midnight, well, I can tell you I would not be happy about it and I would be yawning and watching the clock the entire time, if I was silly enough to say yes. Yet I often work till well after midnight now, and I’m not yawning, instead I’m amped and excited because I love what I’m doing and the creative juices are flowing.

Although this is something I’ve always wanted to do, I was extra motivated after my last job. In that situation I was the person responsible for opening up each morning and locking up each evening. As such, I was also the only person who had to be there by a certain time, and could not leave till after a certain time. I have to say, 7 years of watching the rest of the staff come and go when they felt like it, was really hard to take. The only reason I stood it for so long was the wonderful people I worked with who helped make my time there much more pleasant. However, the entire time, I was desperate for that kind of freedom. It was killing me inside. Guess how motivated and inspired I felt? Guess how my morale level was? Exactly!

So this is why I want to be an entrepreneur. Why I am working so hard and putting my all into it. Why I spend almost every spare minute reading and researching. And why I begrudge not a second of it and instead love every moment. Wish me luck won’t you?

Please comment below. I’d love to hear your dreams and desires for your work and future too, and what you are doing about them.